Comprehensive Livestock Industry Study Guide: Swine, Sheep, Goats, and Horses

SWINE INDUSTRY OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION PHASES

• Industry Concentration: Swine production is primarily concentrated in the American Corn Belt, as this region provides the necessary corn and soybean crops for feed.

• The Six Distinct Production Phases:     1. Breeding     2. Gestation     3. Farrowing     4. Nursery     5. Growing     6. Finishing

• Life Cycle and Timelines:     * Total Life Cycle: Approximately $305$ days from birth to harvest.     * Gestation Duration: $114$ days (often remembered as $3$ months, $3$ weeks, and $3$ days).     * Weaning Age: Typically occurs between $15$ and $21$ days.     * Phase Durations:         * Nursery Phase: Less than $45$ days.         * Growing-Finishing Phase: Less than $128$ days.     * Birth to Harvest Total: Generally less than $190$ days.

SWINE PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

• Multisite/Isowean Systems:     * Purposes: Designed to reduce disease transmission, improve growth efficiency, and increase lean muscle production.     * The Isowean Principle: Pre-weaned pigs are considered mostly pathogen-free. By keeping pigs in the same group through to market weight, producers reduce disease outbreaks and cross-contamination.

• Three-Site System: Utilizing separate facilities for Gestation/Farrowing, Nursery barns, and Finishing barns.

• Two-Site System: Sows are housed separately; there is no nursery barn. Pigs move directly from farrowing to a finishing barn.

• Management Protocols:     * Sanitization: Barns must be sanitized between groups.     * All-in/All-out: A management strategy where all animals enter and leave a facility together to break disease cycles.

BOAR AND BREEDING MANAGEMENT

• Acquisition and Health: Boars should be purchased at least $60$ days before intended use to allow for a quarantine period.

• Stress Management:     * Heat Stress: High temperatures can lead to fertility problems that manifest later.     * Feeding: Avoid overfeeding to maintain libido and physical stamina.

• Breeding Capacity Standards:     * Young Boars:         * Pen Breeding: $8$ to $10$ gilts in a $4$-week period.         * Handmate: Once daily.     * Mature Boars:         * Pen Breeding: $10$ to $12$ females.         * Handmate: Twice daily.

• Timing Specifics: Handmating should occur approximately $40$ hours after the beginning of estrus. Incorrect timing is a primary cause of reduced litter size.

MANAGEMENT OF BREEDING FEMALES

• Gilt Breeding Standards: Gilts reach breeding age at approximately $8$ months with a target weight of $250$ to $260 ext{ lb}$.

• Heat Stress Impacts ($>85^{\circ}\text{F}$):     * Delays or prevents the onset of estrus.     * Reduces the ovulation rate.     * Increases embryonic death.

• Artificial Insemination (AI): Approximately $65\%$ of market hogs are produced via AI. Boars are still utilized on-site to stimulate estrus behavior through pheromones and presence.

• Feeding Protocols:     * Females are limit-fed at $4$ to $5 ext{ lb}/ ext{day}$.     * Overfeeding is avoided as it increases embryonic mortality.     * Body condition scoring is a critical diagnostic tool.

• Weight Gain Expectations during Gestation:     * Gilts: Target gain of $100$ to $120 ext{ lb}$; farrowing weight should be $350$ to $400 ext{ lb}$.     * Sows: Target gain of $75$ to $100 ext{ lb}$; farrowing weight should be $425$ to $550 ext{ lb}$.

• Pregnancy Detection Methods:     * Monitoring for failure to return to estrus.     * Hormone tests.     * Ultrasonography: The most common diagnostic method.

FARROWING, LACTATION, AND PIGLET CARE

• Production Benchmarks:     * Farrowing Rate: Target $>85\%$.     * Litters: $2.2$ litters per sow per year.     * Efficiency: $24$ pigs weaned per female per year.     * Herd Loss: Breeding herd death loss should be $<4\%$.     * Preweaning Death Loss: Target $<8\%$.

• Farrowing Facilities: Farrowing crates are used specifically to protect piglets from being crushed by the sow.

• Neonatal Management and Mortality:     * $1/3$ of all piglet deaths occur within the first $72$ hours.     * Half of those deaths are due to crushing.

• Newborn Care Requirements:     * Colostrum: Must be received within $4$ to $6$ hours.     * Thermal Environment: Temperature must be maintained between $90$ and $100^{\circ}\text{F}$.     * Medical Procedures: Iodine application on the navel cord, iron injections, castration, tail docking, and needle teeth clipping.

FEEDING, MARKETING, AND ENVIRONMENT

• Economics of Feed: Feed represents $60$ to $70\%$ of total production costs. Cereal grains are the primary ingredient.

• Feeding Strategies:     * Phase Feeding: Providing different rations tailored to specific growth stages.     * Split-Sex Feeding: Barrows require more total feed but less lysine; gilts requires higher lysine concentrations.

• Marketing Decisions:     * Market Weight: Target range is $275$ to $290 ext{ lb}$.     * Sales: Most hogs are sold on a contract basis, with heavy emphasis on carcass quality and records.

• Environmental Stewardship Goals:     * Prevent runoff into streams.     * Reduce ammonia and odor release.     * Prevent pathogen release to protect soil/groundwater.     * Odor Control Methods: Dietary manipulation, manure management, air quality interventions, and chemical/biological additives.

SWINE WELL-BEING AND PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS

• Well-Being Factors: Low-stress handling improves productivity. Indoor housing is generally associated with higher productivity due to climate control.

• Biosecurity: Critical for preventing disease entry.

• Housing: Both individual stalls and group pens can be successful for gestation if managed properly.

• Handling Tools: Use of panels, paddles, or flags. Pigs should be moved daily and loaded during cooler times of the day.

• Performance Metrics:     * Litter Size: $12$ pigs born per litter; $10+$ pigs weaned.     * Birth Weight: $2.7$ to $3.3 ext{ lb}$.     * Average Daily Gain (ADG): $1.5$ to $1.9 ext{ lb}/ ext{day}$.     * Feed Efficiency (Feed/Gain): $2.5$ to $3.0 ext{ lb}$ of feed per pound of gain.     * Dressing Percentage: $70$ to $74\%$.

SHEEP INDUSTRY AND BREED CATEGORIES

• Wool Types:     * Fine wool     * Medium wool     * Long wool     * Colored wool     * Hair sheep (non-wool producing)

• Breeding Designations:     * Ewe Breeds: White-faced breeds known for maternal traits.     * Ram Breeds: Black-faced breeds known for meat production.     * Dual-purpose Breeds: Designed for both wool and meat.

• Significant Breeds by Category:     * Fine Wool: Merino, Rambouillet.     * Medium Wool: Dorset, Texel.     * Long Wool: Border Leicester, Lincoln.     * Hair Sheep: Katahdin, Dorper.     * Meat Breeds: Suffolk, Hampshire, Southdown.     * Dairy Breed: East Friesian.

SHEEP REPRODUCTION AND CHARACTERISTICS

• Behavioral Differences: Fine wool breeds tend to herd closely together, whereas ram (meat) breeds tend to scatter.

• Reproductive Cycles:     * Estrous Cycle: $17$ days.     * Gestation: $145$ to $147$ days.

• Lambing Statistics:     * $1.3$ lambs born per ewe.     * $96\%$ are born alive.     * Twinning is highly dependent on the specific breed.

• Factors Influencing Reproduction: Crossbreeding, ambient light and temperature, disease/parasites, nutrition, and estrus synchronization (often involving AI).

• Breeding Management:     * Rams should remain in the pasture for a maximum of $40$ days.     * Teaser or vasectomized rams may be used to identify ewes in heat.     * Tagging/Crutching: Removing wool from around the dock and vulva to facilitate breeding and cleanliness.

SHEEP PRODUCTION AND MAINTENANCE

• Facility Requirements:     * Rotational grazing is essential for parasite control.     * Sheep cause less damage to wet soil compared to cattle.     * Fencing: Woven-wire or electric fencing required.     * Lambing Jugs: $4 \times 4 ext{ ft}$ individual pens used during lambing.     * Heat Lamps: Maintained at $90^{\circ}\text{F}$.

• Operations Types:     * Purebred Breeder: Focuses on genetics/breeding stock.     * Commercial Market Lamb Producer: Raises lambs for market (target around $130 ext{ lb}$).     * Feedlot Operator: Uses concentrate diets to finish lambs.

• Nutritional Requirements:     * Essential nutrients: Energy, Protein, Salt, Iodine, Phosphorus, Vitamins A, D, E, and Selenium.     * Energy: The most frequent limiting nutrient.     * Protein: The quantity consumed is more critical than the specific quality.

SHEEP PERFORMANCE AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

• Market Lamb Classifications:     * Grass Lambs: Finished on high-quality pasture.     * Easter Lambs: Specifically timed, light market lambs.     * Hothouse Lambs: Produced out-of-season and marketed very young.

• Key Management Tasks:     * Flushing: Increasing nutrition before breeding to increase the ovulation/twinning rate.     * Shearing: Performed in the spring. Sheep should be fasted (no food/water) for $6$ to $12$ hours prior to shearing.     * Fly Strike: A condition where fly eggs are laid in the wool during warm weather, leading to infestation.

• Performance Characteristics:     * Lamb Crop: Farm flock ($160$ to $180\%$); Range flock ($120$ to $130\%$).     * Birth Weights: Singles ($10$ to $12 ext{ lb}$); Twins ($7$ to $9 ext{ lb}$).     * Standard Weaning: $90$ days.     * Market Weight Range: $90$ to $120 ext{ lb}$.     * Dressing Percentage: $50$ to $52\%$.

GOAT INDUSTRY: BREEDS AND REPRODUCTION

• Breed Categories:     * Meat: Spanish, Boer.     * Dairy: Alpine, LaMancha, Nubian, Oberhasli, Saanen, Toggenburg.     * Fiber: Angora (mohair), Changthangi (cashmere).

• Reproductive Cycles:     * Estrous Cycle: $21$ days.     * Gestation: $150$ days.     * Seasonality: Most goats are seasonal breeders (breeding season typically Sept–Nov).

• Breeding Age: Young does are bred at $6$ to $9$ months; Angoras are bred later ($18$ to $24$ months).

• Heat Signs: Noisy behavior, restlessness, and a decrease in milk production.

GOAT MANAGEMENT AND NUTRITION

• Fencing: Goats are notorious escape artists. Woven wire approximately $6 ext{ ft}$ high or electric fencing is recommended.

• Procedures:     * Castration: $4$ to $6$ weeks of age.     * Dehorning: Performed in the first week after birth.     * Shearing: Usually spring; Angoras may be shorn twice per year.

• Protein Requirements:     * Bucks and Dry Does: $12$ to $15\%$     * Young or Lactating Goats: $15$ to $20\%$

• Feeding Facts: Lactating goats require concentrates. Kids should be introduced to grain at $2$ to $3$ weeks. Goats transition well to pasture by $5$ to $6$ months.

HORSE INDUSTRY: BREEDS AND SELECTION

• Light Horse Breeds: Quarter Horse (the most popular breed), Thoroughbred, Paint Horse, Tennessee Walking Horse, Arabian, Appaloosa, and Standardbred.

• Draft Breeds: Clydesdale.

• Breeding Selection: Unsound horses (those with functional defects) should not be bred. Genetic weaknesses often become apparent in rugged environments.

• Purchasing Protocols: Always utilize a prepurchase exam conducted by a veterinarian, use a sales contract, and maintain meticulous records.

• Unsoundness vs. Blemish:     * Unsoundness: A structural or functional defect that affects the horse's usefulness.     * Blemish: A defect that is solely cosmetic and does not affect utility.     * Examples of Unsoundness: Toeing-in, Toeing-out, Cow hocks, Sickle hocks, and Contracted heels.

HORSE ANATOMY AND AGING

• "Way of Going" and Shock Absorption:     * Structures responsible for absorbing shock: Lateral cartilages, pasterns, and various joints.

• Movement Abnormalities:     * Toes Out: Often leads to "Winging in."     * Interference: One leg hitting another during movement.     * Toes In: Often leads to "Paddling."     * Forging: The hind foot hits the shoe of the front foot.

• Determining Age by Teeth:     * A foal has $24$ baby (deciduous) teeth by $6$ to $10$ months.     * A "full mouth" (all permanent teeth) is achieved at $5$ years.     * Wear patterns are used to estimate age thereafter.

HORSE NUTRITION AND DIGESTIVE DISORDERS

• Digestive Anatomy: Horses are hind-gut fermenters. They have a relatively small stomach and a large intestine designed to digest fiber.

• Feeding Guidelines:     * Diets should be forage-based.     * Body Condition Scores (BCS): Measured on a scale of $1$ to $9$.     * Overfeeding is a more common issue than underfeeding.     * Nutrient needs vary based on age and workload; most horses are fed twice daily.

• Digestive Disorders:     * Colic (Abdominal Pain):         * Causes: Sudden diet changes, gas buildup, parasites, or a twisted gut.         * Signs: Pawing at the ground, rolling, or pacing.     * Laminitis (Founder): An inflammation of the hoof laminae.         * Causes: Grain overload, overwork, or grazing on lush pasture.

HORSE REPRODUCTION AND HEALTH

• Reproductive Cycles:     * Puberty: Light breeds ($12$ to $18$ months); Draft breeds ($18$ to $24$ months).     * Cycle Duration: $22$ days.     * Estrus Duration: $5$ to $7$ days.     * Gestation: Approximately $340$ days. Twinning is very rare.     * Foal Heat: A period of estrus occurring $5$ to $12$ days after foaling.

• Breeding Management:     * Teasing: Using a stallion to check the mare's heat status.     * Heat Signs: Squatting, urination, and "vulva winking."     * Timing: Breeding typically occurs on the $2 ext{nd}$ and $4 ext{th}$ days after the mare enters heat.

• Foaling Care: Clean area; clear the foal's airways immediately after birth; treat the umbilical cord with iodine. Consult a vet for breech births.

• General Health:     * Castration: Non-breeding colts are castrated to become "geldings," which are safer to handle.     * Identification: Registration papers, Coggins papers, brands, lip tattoos, and microchips.     * Major Diseases: Tetanus, Strangles, Equine Encephalitis, and West Nile Virus.     * Parasite Control: Deworming should occur at least twice per year.

• Performance Metrics:     * Foaling Rate: $90\%$.     * Birth Weight: $100$ to $120 ext{ lb}$.     * Weaning Weight: $400$ to $600 ext{ lb}$.